Circle Time All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Ideas
Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your theme!
Our Families
Tell the children to listen to what you are saying and stand up if what you say is true about them!
Stand up if you have a brother.
Stand up if you have a pet.
Have the children standing name them (brother, pet, etc.)
Be sure to help children who aren't sure of the answers (Dee-Dee, you have a baby sister! Stand up! What is your baby sister's name?)
All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Large Group Games
to help build their muscles while they have fun together
Body Match Game
Play music and have the children work in pairs. Call out a body part that they need to match. If you say "Knees" the children need to make one or both of their knees touch the knees of their partner!
Who is Missing?
Introduce this game by starting in a group sitting down. Provide little plastic people. Let the children give the family role name to each one: "This is the Mom. This is the Grandma. etc."
Tell the children to close and cover their eyes. Take one away and have them open and uncover their eyes and ask "Who is missing?" Once you have played this with them a few times, tell them you are now going to play "Who is missing" together!
Have an area near you where one child can stand and not be seen by the other children (behind a table, etc.).
Have all the children stand up, turn around (with their backs to you) and close and cover their eyes.
Choose one child to hide behind the spot you have chosen and have the others guess who is missing!
This is a favorite activity of mine!
Tracing Pairs
Thank you Sherica from Kingston, Jamaica for this activity!
Children can be in pairs. One child will lay on a large brown paper and have his partner trace around body. They take turns tracing each other one their own paper.
After body is traced then children can color, paint or collage body shape traced.
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All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Ideas for Your Library Area
Book Suggestions for the Library
Below is a list of books about children and about families! You may find them at your local library or you can click the title links to check out what is available at Amazon.
(I LOVE Amazon, and if you choose to get yours there, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit!)
All About Me Books
All by Myself (Little Critter) (Look-Look)by Mercer Mayer
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Happy Birthday, Sam by Pat Hutchins
Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
I Like Me! (Picture Puffins) by Nancy Carlson
Just Because I Am: A Child's Book of Affirmation by Lauren Murphy
Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Krauss
Now I Am Threeby Jane Belk Moncure--these are older books, most libraries have the collections. This particular series by Moncure has one for each age Now I'm One! Now I'm Two! etc.
My Book About Me by Dr. Seuss
The Foot Book (The Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners)by Dr. Seuss
Herman the Helper by Robert Kraus
The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Now I'm Big by Margaret Miller
Books about Families
Are You My Mother? (Bright & Early Board Books(TM))by P. D. Eastman
The Berenstain Bears' New Baby by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Clifford's Family (Clifford 8x8) by Norman Bridwell
Guess How Much I Love You: Pop-Upby Sam McBratney
Just Me and My Mom (A Little Critter Book) by Mercer Mayer
My Mom and Dad Make Me Laughby Nick Sharratt
RELATIVES CAME by Cynthia Rylant
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs (Picture Puffins) by Tomie De Paula
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All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Math & Manipulatives Ideas
to help your Preschoolers develop their math skills and those small muscles in their hands!
In My House
Materials: Pre-cut small people shapes (make many!) and several larger houses. This can be used in many ways:
The children count out and name the number of people that live in their house and place them on a pre-cut house.
You can program each house with numbers and the children then place that number of people on the house.
If you pre-cut them in different colors, the children can sort all the people by sizes, colors or match them to the matching colored house.
Big and Little
The beginning of the year is a good time to introduce these concepts.
Provide an item in small and large sizes (balls, stuffed animals, cut out people shapes) and then provide 2 boxes one that says Big and one that says LITTLE or SMALL. The children learn to sort by size.
Puzzles-Big and Small
Make puzzles available that have families in them: both table puzzles and floor puzzles. If you don't have any, make one! Find pictures or print pictures from your computer of families. Make a collage of it and then laminate and cut it out into large puzzle shapes!
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All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Music and Movement
Activities and Ideas to get your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!
How Do You Feel?
Have different tempos of music available. Play one song and ask the children what type of mood the music is in-happy, sad, excited, scared, etc. The children then act out that mood through movement. Change the songs often and repeat!
Healthy Me
Although health and nutrition can be a theme on its own, it is great to remind the children about staying healthy during your All About Me Preschool Activities theme as well!
Play music and encourage the children to join you in some healthy exercise! "Let's jog five times. Let's jump four times." Etc.
Here is one of my favorite exercise CD's (The song "Fun To Get Fit" is fantastic!) that you can purchase at a good price at Amazon by clicking the picture below.
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All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Ideas for your Sensory Table!
Clean Up, Clean Up!
Add soapy water to your table along with your dramatic play dishes, pots and pans, etc.
Include sponges and towels!
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All About Me Preschool Activities Theme Science Ideas--
for your Preschool Scientists in Training!
Another reminder! An All About Me preschool activities theme goal is to learn about the children and their families AND for the children to learn about their own abilities. Science gives them the opportunity to ask questions about their environment and about themselves.
All About Me Preschool Activities Height and Weight!
Materials Needed: a tape measure, a scale (for the children to stand on), paper and a pen
Weigh each child and measure their height. Record the results and use with the Me Book activity in the Writing Activities section below.
EXTENSION: Tape a large paper to a wall and record on the paper each child's name, height and weight. Leave it there all year. Re-measure near the end of the year! Our kids LOVE this!
Another Variation!
Thank you Maribel from Fort Meyers, FL for this idea!
Materials needed: yarn, scissors, tape and marker or pen
Cut out a piece of yarn to measure each child's height.
Attach a piece of tape with their name on it and the measurment. Hang these on the wall.
Have the children compare their height and discuss short and tall.
Do this again at the end of the year and compare how much they have grown. I work with 3 year olds and they love it!
I'm a Color Scientist
Provide small plastic cups (clear) with water in them. Provide eye droppers and small cups of paint for the children to experiment with color identification and color mixing!
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Writing Activity Ideas for Your All About Me Preschool Activities Theme!
All About Me Preschool Theme Writing Activity
Me Book
Fold a piece of construction paper in half. Have the child trace his/her hand and then help them cut out their hand (do not cut the folded side). When done, the hand print should open like a book.
Let the children write their own name on the front and decorate the front.
On the inside, write the date, the child's name, their height and weight (obtained from the science activity in the Science Activity Section above) as well as their birth date!
My Name
In advance, pre-print each child's name on a piece of paper.
Provide sorters (shapes, macaroni, etc.) for them to cover the letters of their name with.
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Miscellaneous Ideas for Your All About Me Preschool Activities Theme!
Family Collage
At the beginning of the year, send a Family Collage request home. Let each family know that you are working on an All About Me preschool activities theme and that this is the family portion of that theme!
Ask each family to work with the child to make a Family Collage. The Collage can have photo's on it with family members' names written on it. It can be drawn by the child and family! This is a family event and the purpose is to help the children learn more about each other and each other's families!
Give the families a deadline for when they are due!
As each child brings their collage or poster in, invite that child to point out each picture and name the family members to their friends at circle time!
Family Project Send home a piece of paper that says:
"(childs name) is special to Mommy and Daddy because..." Have the parents fill it out and return to school to go in the All About Me book.
All About Me Book
One of the ways my students and I get to know each other is by making an "All About Me" book. The children and their parents pick the packet up on
"meet the teacher" night, a week before school starts. There are 11 pages such as This is me, This is my family, I like the color..., An animal I like is...,
In school I want to learn about..., I want to be a ______ when I grow up, I like to eat..., I am ____ years old, I am special because...
The family and kids decorate these pages any way they want and then send them back to school 2 weeks later. Meanwhile, the kids and I use watercolor
paints and bling to decorate their covers. I also paint one of their hands and make a handprint on the back cover. Our school name and year are written on
the inside cover. The covers are done on cardboard so they hold up and are laminated as well. The front cover has a first day picture of the child and the title
All About ___. I punch holes in the binding side and use zip ties to hold them together. These books are kept in the classroom all year and then go home
for the summer. These books are looked at more than the other books in our classroom. Just thought I'd share that idea.
Feelings Chart
Bring a large piece of chart paper and a marker to circle time. This activity will get children thinking about different feelings.
Talk about what feeling mad, good, sad, scared, angry, silly, etc. means.
Then have the children call out endings to these sentences that you will put on the chart paper:
I feel angry when ___________
I feel sad when _____________
continue with others.
My Family - Teaching Diversity
Show and Tell Day
Have a "Show and Tell Day" where children bring an item from home to help everyone get to know them better.
It might be a family picture, favorite toy, etc.
EXTENSION: After show and tell, most kids want to play with the items they brought in. You could set up a "display table" on show and tell day where the children place their items. The only rule is that it is a looking and talking table--they do not take the items off the table to play with yet. Then designate a time for Show and Tell Play....perhaps the last 10-15 minutes of the morning.
I Love My Family
Some families are big (spread arms wide)
Some families are small (bring arms closer together)
But I love my family (cross arms over chest)
Best of all!
Talk with the children about who is in their family? Who lives in their house? Remind the children that family is not ONLY who lives with them. It includes grandparents, a Mom or Dad who may live in a different house, etc.
EXTENSION: Make a family chart. List each child's name in a column to the left. Have precut small people available. Talk to the children about who is in their family and tape a cut out to represent each one next to their name.
Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your
All About Me Preschool Activities Theme!
Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation! Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!
All About Me Preschool Theme Snack Idea
Cracker Faces
Ingredients needed: Round crackers, shredded cheese, raisins, cheese spread (cream cheese type)
The children place some spread on a cracker. Use the raisins and shredded cheese to make a face on their cracker!
